Monster
by Tinyteffers
Summary: You think you know somebody…you feel safe and comfortable with that person. But is it possible to have that feeling of comfort last a lifetime? Tony DiNozzo isn't so sure. Can his teammates/friends help him make the right choices when it comes to his private life?
1. Chapter 1

TITLE :: Monster

RATING :: M

PARING :: DiNozzo/OFC – Gibbs/DiNozzo

WARNING :: Mentions of domestic violence

DISCLAIMER :: I do not own ANYTHING having to do with the TV show NCIS or its characters.

SUMMARY :: You think you know somebody…you feel safe and comfortable with that person. But is it possible to have that feeling of comfort last a lifetime? Tony DiNozzo isn't so sure. Can his teammates/friends help him make the right choices when it comes to his private life?

Chapter 1

Special Agent Tony DiNozzo walked into the squad room of the Washington DC branch of NICS. In his hand was a drink holder with four drinks securely inside the cardboard. "He wasn't surprised to his boss already sipping his own large coffee, but also knew he would get a smile from the older man for bringing him another one for later.

The whole team had been working on case that was still in progress after three days. Sure, they had, had cases more intense than this, but at the same time this one was beyond intense and weird.

"Any news from Abby?" Tony questioned Tim McGee and Ellie Bishop who were both at their desks typing away. They didn't even seem to notice when he handed each of them a fresh cup of coffee.

Gibbs was the one to speak up. "She's still working with the possible DNA sample." He had been the only one allowed down in Abby's lab the past few days because she felt the more people around evidence the harder it would be for her to run the forensics. Of course Tony, Tim and Ellie both protested saying they would help not contaminate, but Abby still stuck by her guns on this.

"I'm almost certain it is not Jeffery Harold." McGee said looking up at the rest of the team who was looking right at him waiting for his answer. "I think he might have SOMETHING to do with it but I doubt he pulled off the actual killing since he is still behind bars."

"McGoofy…You do realize people do crimes from prison all the time." Tony pointed out.

McaGee didn't listen to Tony and continued his train of thought. "He was in prison in Oregon, it would be rather hard to get from the West to East coast just to commit a crime and get back to your cell in time."

"He's got a point." Ellie said with a shrug. "I still think we should focus more on Kimble, he's got the motive and he doesn't live across the country."

"He actually lives down the street from ME." Tony said making a face. "I think I need to move."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, "So let's do that, focus on Markus Kimble." He looked at Tony. "Since you live so close to him, knowing the neighborhood and all. Why don't you take Bishop and scour the area for evidence, while Tim and I will head for his work, which I do believe is Raygon Roofing."

Everybody in the room nodded their head.

Tony was grabbing his 'to-go' bag when the elevator dinged and a very attractive blonde came walking off and heading towards Tony.

"Hey Bec…what are you doing here?" Tony questioned his wife of the past five years. Sure, it wasn't that weird that she was visiting him at the office, but it WAS weird that she hadn't informed him either before he left work or sent him a text or call to say she was coming.

Rebecca (Becca) Lawson-DiNozzo smiled at Tony and everybody else that was still gathering their backpacks full of investigative materials. "Hi guys I don't mean to bother you since it looks like you are all heading out but can I barrow Tony for a second?"

Everybody looked to Tony, including Gibbs. They all tried to keep their private lives out of the office, but sometimes that wasn't possible. "We'll head out, but you guys can go once you're done talking." Gibbs said to Tony and Becca. He grabbed his bag and walked with Tim to the elevator.

Meanwhile Ellie cleared her throat nervously. "I am going to go sip this coffee in the breakroom." She told the couple before dashing off to do just that.

With nobody left in the squad room Tony looked to Becca. "What's up?"

"You used all the milk and bananas." Becca stated like that was the end of the world.

Tony made a face, "I what?"

Becca glared, "You heard me just fine."

"Beca I am at work." Tony pointed out. "Can't this wait until I get home?"

Becca snorted, "Which will be when? You have been coming into the bedroom after midnight for the past week. When will we have time to talk?"

Tony reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He grabbed three 20 dollar bills and placed them in Becca's hand. "Go buy yourself new bananas and milk and go to the spa or something."

This did not help the situation like Tony wished it would.

"You can't pay me off like that…who do you think I am?"

"Becca please." Tony almost wined, "I have work to do and it would be certain I wouldn't get home on time if you start something now."

Becca huffed and shoved the money in her purse. "This isn't over." She said before storming to the elevator.

Tony flopped into his desk chair and put his head in his hands, praying the headache he felt coming on would go away. 'Why is Becca being so demanding?' he thought to himself as he sat there contemplating on the issue. It wasn't until somebody cleared their throat did he look up and notice Abby standing there with sad eyes.

"I heard you guys." Abby simply stated.

Tony was confused for a second before he realized what Abby was saying. "It's nothing…probably just moody girl stuff."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Don't talk about 'moody girl stuff' with another girl.

"Right," Tony said and then sighed again. "Again it's nothing so please don't pry."

Abby a bit taken back with what Tony said but did what he asked and didn't continue to pry into his private life. "When you guys get back from the field I will have some information for you." She said before turning and heading for the back elevator.

It took Tony a few more minutes to collect himself before he stood up and grabbed his backpack. Just as he was grabbing it Bishop came walking into the room, also holding her backpack.

"Sorry about that." He apologized to Ellie as they headed to the elevator opposite to the one that Abby had just went to.

Ellie shrugged, "No big deal." She said as they rode the elevator to the parking garage to pick up the other NCIS issued car. One they were on their way Ellie started asking some questions Tony wasn't in the mood to discuss.

"Did you do anything fun the other day for your anniversary?" Ellie questioned.

Tony glanced at the young woman sitting next to him and then looked back at the road. "She had to work." He simply stated hoping to end that line of conversation.

Of course Ellie being Ellie had her continue her line of questioning. "Oh that is awful, if it had been my anniversary I would have made sure to get the night off at least."

"Yeah well you aren't Becca." Tony stated once again praying that Ellie would simply shut up and let them get through the work day.

"True," Ellie said and thankfully let the conversation go.

"I'm just going to park in my parking spot at home and we can walk around from there." Tony said as he parked the car in his apartment complex and both he and Ellie grabbed their backpacks and headed down the sidewalk to check out various day-time hangouts that their suspect would have had the opportunity to work out of or at least have some connection.

It took Ellie and Tony until around 5pm to get finished with their investigation. They had heard from Gibbs and McGee a few hours earlier that said they were back at the office actually working with Abby on some evidence they found. Now two hours later Tony parked in their NCIS parking spot and the two of them headed upstairs to the squad room to hopefully debrief the day and then get to go home.

BUT they had no such luck. Instead all four team members stayed until after 11pm going over and over again parts of the case and like always coming up with absolute junk.

"Can we PLEASE go home?" Tony whined and it wasn't just a playful whine. "We've been at this since this morning, we're all going to have eye damage if we don't stop staring at computer and TV screens."

"What's the difference of you staying here looking at TV screens when you would do the same at your house." McGee stated playfully

Tony didn't take it playfully though. "I happen to want to get home to my wife, not the fucking TV set."

Everybody in the room went quiet until Gibbs stood up from his desk. "DiNozzo, with me." He said walking to the elevator/conference room."

"Great," Tony grumbled to himself as he followed after Gibbs and got on the elevator just before it shut. He didn't say anything though, but waited for Gibbs to speak up.

Gibbs too was quiet for a second before clearing his throat. "Haven't seen you blow up like that in years, something going on?"

Tony shook his head, "Right as rain, Boss."

"Why don't I believe you?"

'Great' Tony thought to himself. He REALLY didn't want to talk to Boss and good friend about anything right now. "I just want to go home, it's been a long day and I want to see Becca. I mean you should understand that having been in multiple relationships that have gone to pot due to your job. I don't want that." The more he said these things the more he realized he wanted it to be the truth. He WANTED to make his marriage work. He just needed the support of his friends or he probably wouldn't be able to do it. It wasn't exactly the response he wanted to have come out of mouth but it did. "Can't you just leave it alone!" exclaimed but quickly looked down at his feet?

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, "If that is what you need…"

"I do." Tony answered and started the elevator back up so he could get his stuff from the squad room. "Right now I just want to go home to my wife."

This time Gibbs didn't say anything as he watched Tony gather his things and practically dash back to the elevator.

Tony quietly unlocked the door to his apartment and toed his shoes off in the entry way. He thought he was being quiet when a light turned on in the living room and there was Becca staring at him.

"You told me you would be home before now." Becca slurred.

When he heard his wife's tone of voice Tony knew the glass of dark red liquid in her glass was NOT the first. "I have never made a promise that I would be home at any certain time, you know my job is too up in the air to make promises."

Becca sighed, "You need to be on time to spend time with your wife." She said as she put her wine glass on the coffee table in front of her and then crossed her legs at the knee. "Please tell me you figured out this case and we don't have to worry about these late nights for a while."

It was Tony's turn to sigh, "Nothing is figured out yet but you should be happy I didn't stay at work all night finishing it."

"It wouldn't matter you come home so tired that there is never any time for me."

Tony literally put his hands up in the air in exasperation. "You keep giving me all these mixed messages lately. First you are happy about my job because it pays well and you can go out shopping with your girlfriends. BUT when I stay late at said job you completely lose it."

This got Becca's attention and she stood up going to stand right in front of Tony. "You have NEVER seen me lose it and believe me you don't want to" said the petite woman that reached only 5'2" on a good day.

"Is that a treat?" Tony questioned with a raised eyebrow. When she didn't say anything back he groaned. "You are not thinking clearly and *I* am going to bed." He said heading down the hall to the master bedroom.

While he was brushing his teeth and washings his face he could feel the presence of somebody standing behind him. He looked up to see Becca standing there with an intense expression on her face. "What?" he questioned, really not in the mood to fight any more than they already were.

"Nothing." She stated before moving to use the toilet.

Tony shook his head and finished up his business in the bathroom and headed out to the bedroom. He stripped to his boxers and climbed under the covers with a heavy sigh. He was bone tired that was for sure.

Becca joined him in bed a few minutes later. She was quiet and didn't move for a few minutes but when she did move it caught Tony a bit off guard. Her hand went right for his crotch and gave his member a squeeze.

"Bec…" Tony stated with a slight groan. "I'm not in the mood."

"I can make you in the mood." Was her reply.

Tony shook his head and reached down to move her hand from his cloth covered member. "I have to be up at 5am, it's after 12am now. I really need my sleep."

Becca sat up and glared down at Tony. "And your wife really NEEDS you."

Tony sighed, "Becca please." This wasn't the first time that she had done this and it never turned out pretty. Of course he would admit to friends that he liked having his wife in charge in the bedroom on occasion but when you get a drunk aggressive wife in the bedroom it wasn't a good thing.

Becca moved so she was sitting on Tony's lap. "You don't mean anything you're saying. You love sex and I can make sure it's completely worth your while."

"I'm going to sleep in the guest room." Tony said gently pushing Becca onto her side of the bed before he stood up, grabbing his pill. "You figure out things on your own."

Tony seriously thought that Becca had vampire tendencies because she could be one place one second and another place a second after that. In this case she was at the bedroom door right as soon as he got to it.

"You're not leaving."

"I am." Tony said as he reached for the doorknob.

Becca moved so she was in front of Tony. "You leave this room, you are never coming back."

Tony wasn't sure what she meant by that but he didn't like it. "I would gladly stay in my own bed if you weren't acting like a complete spaz."

That was all it took and soon Tony was standing in the kitchen holding a frozen bag of peas to his eye.

"I am SO sorry baby." Becca said trying to baby him as much as possible. "Does it hurt?"

Tony looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Of course it hurts!" he couldn't believe it his wife had punched him in the eye. Sure, she was spicy and yelled a lot sometimes but she never got physical.

"If you come to bed I can make it up to you…"

Again Tony's look was of pure amazement. "The only way I am coming to bed is if you stay to yourself. I am not happy with you right now." He answered honestly as he carried his bag of peas and headed to the bedroom. He didn't look to see if she was following but just climbed into bed with a heavy sigh.

Becca joined him a few minutes later but neither of them said anything as drifted off to sleep.

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What the fuck happened to you!" McGee exclaimed as Tony took off his sunglasses at his desk the next morning.

Tony was a bit shocked because he never thought he would hear his 'partner in crime' say such a naughty word. "You wouldn't believe how easy it is to slip in the shower and wham your eye on the faucet." he said with a shrug. "Oh and you really need to wash your mouth out McPotty Mouth."

McGee rolled his eyes and walked from his desk over to Tony, looking at his eye close up. "You seriously expect me to believe you when you say it was just a slip in the shower?"

"Yes" Tony said point blank and sat down in his chair. "Now tell me anything I've missed."

McGee was going to say something about him being so bossy but decided not to. He was debriefing Tony on the early morning activities when Gibbs came walking into the room, coffee cup in hand. He already looked frazzled and it was only 7am. Whatever he heard from Ducky or Abby must not have been good news.

"What's up Boss?" Tony questioned the older man.

Gibbs proceeded to tell everybody in the squad room that none of the evidence they had collected the day before had ANYTHING to do with any of their current suspects…which meant they were back to the drawing board that day with nothing really to go on.

"I have a feeling I should call Jake to tell him I will be home…never." Bishop spoke up as she walked into the room at the end of the conversation. She wasn't late per-say but just not as early as everybody else had been.

"Well if we get to work right away maybe we will figure something out." Tony said trying to be positive even though he felt nothing but positive at the moment. Ellie's comment about calling her husband early in the day to warn him about a possible late night made him think he should do the same thing for Becca. Sighing he pushed that thought aside and sat at his desk trying to think of what to do next.

"What happened to you?"

Tony was shaken from his thoughts when Gibbs came and stood in front of his desk looking at him like had a third eye. "What?"

"Your eye." Gibbs stated and actually reached over and gently touched Tony's eye which caused the younger man to wince in pain.

"He had a run-in with his shower facet." McGee said from his desk.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Better be more careful."

"Right Boss." Tony replied.

"What about Thomas Field?" Bishop questioned from her spot upon her desk. It was now almost lunch time and they were still trying to find people connected to their Petty Officers murder.

"He was in Texas at the time." McGee grumbled form his desk.

"Marshall Hebert?"

"Australia."

"Seriously?"

McGee nodded.

"Poop."

Tony was getting a headache listening to McGee and Bishop say names and locations. "Who wants lunch?"

In a weird 'school' sort of way Bishop and McGee raised their hands and then went back to chattering on about names.

Tony groaned and got up. He saw Gibbs do the same thing and wondered what that was about. "Going to see Abby?" he questioned his Boss and good friend. Heck, everybody in that room was a good friend.

Gibbs shook his head, "No thought I would tag along with you."

"Oh"

"I was thinking Hugo's."

Tony had to admit a great sub sandwich from the local sub shop sounded really good at the moment. "I guess I should get orders from THOSE two." He said nodding at the other agents.

"Probably."

"Right," Tony got sandwich orders and soon he and Gibbs were in the car on the way to Hugo's.

"Plan on telling me the real reason for your eye sometime today?" Gibbs questioned as they were driving.

Tony sighed, "I am telling the truth." He said even though it would go in one ear and out the other with Gibbs because he would know he was lying.

"Right."

Again Tony sighed, "Can we just drop it…I hurt my eye and it still hurts like a son-of-a-bitch and I really don't want to talk about it."

Gibbs nodded his head, "Okay."

"Jeremy Filbert."

"Alabama."

"Kenny Chesney."

McGee was about to respond to that and realized what Bishop had done. "Ha ha…funny."

Ellie Bishop smirked but got serious again when Tony and Gibbs came walking back into the room with sandwiches. She hopped off her desk and went to sit in her chair so she could use the desk's surface as a table. "This looks SOOO good." She said taking a bite of her chicken breast and avocado sandwich.

"Why were you talking about county singers?" Tony questioned as he sat down with his own sandwich.

McGee glared at Bishop before responding to Tony. "We've been going at it with names since you left. She decided to play a joke and said the singer's name."

"Creative." Tony had to admit and Gibbs actually chuckled slightly from his desk.

"I still think we need to look into Harold Nisbit." Bishop said after swallowing some of her food. "He was actually in The DC area the night of the murder."

"But he has that strong alibi. He was in the emergency room with is daughter getting a cast on from falling down the stairs." McGee pointed out.

"Yes but what if this guy is so sinister that he pushed his own daughter down the stairs in order to have an alibi for killing one of his fellow sailor's?" Bishop answered with a 'ha' look on her face.

McGee didn't say anything for a second as he processed that information. "I guess he is worth looking into again."

"We can go check it out after we finished eating." Tony said to McGee.

"Sure" McGee said around a bite of his food.

"This place is a disaster…" Tony said as he and McGee stepped over broken…well…he wasn't sure what it was but it was broken. They were walking in the front yard of Harold Nisbit's house and things were definitely looking pretty hinky when it came to this guy.

"I don't exactly doubt his daughter falling if the yard is any indication of the inside of the house." McGee added as they gingerly climbed the front stops and knocked on the door.

It took a few minutes but soon a frail looking middle aged woman answered the door. "Can I help you?"

"Hello ma'am I'm Special Agent Tony DiNozzo and this here is my partner Tim McGee. We were hoping to talk to Harold Nisbit."

The woman looked confused for a second, "Harold hasn't lived here in almost three years…when he joined the military."

"Do you happen to know where he is living now?" McGee questioned. "We have talked with him and he said he is living in town with a daughter."

The woman looked even more confused now. "That is news to me. Last I heard he was living in Iraq with some lady named Sasha."

"Excuse me ma'am but what is your connection to Mr. Nisbit?"

"I'm his older half-sister." She replied. "I wish I could help you, but I honestly don't know where Harold is and I definitely don't know of any daughter."

"Thank you for your help ma'am" Both Tony and McGee said as they headed back to the car. Ones there they looked at each other with worried eyes. "This case is beginning to give me the creeps."

McGee had to agree. "We should just go straight to the office and talk to everybody about this new development. Because if Harold Nisibt is in Iraq then who did we talk to the other night at the hospital?"

"Carl Jackson."

"Robert Killington."

"George Johnson."

"Sam Brooks."

"Would you two stop it?" Tony exclaimed as he rubbed at this temples. He had been listening to McGee and Bishop say names back and forth for a good half an hour now and he was getting sick of it."

"Do you have anybody to add, Tony?" McGee spat.

"Whoa Elf Lord enough with the attitude." Tony said looking over at his friend. "It's not worth being pissy."

"I'm not pissy." McGee stated before looking back at his computer screen in a huff.

Just then both Jake Bishop and Becca Lawrance-DiNozzo came walking into the room laughing about something causing the whole NCIS team to look in their direction.

"Ohh a surprise!" Ellie said jumping up from her desk and going to give her husband a huge hug.

Quite frankly Tony did NOT want to go and hug Becca after what happened the night before but he knew needed to keep up the act he was playing. He got up and went over to his wife and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. "Hey Baby."

Becca smiled, "Hi sweetheart."

Both McGee and Gibbs made playful gagging noises which caused everybody to bust up laughing.

"So what brings you both by at the same time?" Ellie questioned looking from Jake to Becca.

"We just met in the lobby and decided to head up together."

Tony glanced at his watch and realized it was after 6pm…home time. That is if you had a normal job that didn't have to do with criminals…because they never slept. "You're both probably hoping we can pause for dinner."

"Which you can." Gibbs said from his spot. "It's dinner time and I have learned over the years that dinner's spent with others is the best way to go."

Everybody looked at Gibbs like he was slow or something. Did Mr. Recluse himself actually say it was best to eat with a partner and not alone?

"I guess it's settled then….we will break for dinner." Ellie practically squealed as she dashed out of the room with Jake.

Becca looked hopefully at Tony. "Where are we going to go?" she questioned her husband.

"How about the pizza joint around the corner?"

She made a slight face but it turned to a smile. "That sounds great, I could go for a nice slice of veggie pizza."

It was Tony's turn to make a face but this time it was at his wife's choice of pizza. "I don't know how you can eat that." He said playfully as they got in the elevator and headed to the lobby level of headquarters.

"It tastes good to me." She said with a shrug as they walked to her car since his was down in the parking garage and it was simply easier to take her car. She had a brand new dark blue Toyota Corolla. One that Tony had bought her only a month earlier for her birthday. She had been so excited that they were up until 3am making love.

Soon they were at the pizza restaurant and they got out of the car. "So how is your case going?" Becca questioned.

"Ugh…awful." Tony said as they stood in line to get a place to sit. It was a hopping joint on a workday afternoon. People from all walks of life would come in and get a slice of the legendary pizza.

Becca pouted at the information. "I take that as to mean you won't be coming home with me after this."

"Not even close." Tony sighed. "We keep getting names but they always fall through."

"Maybe you should think about getting another job." Becca said after a second and after they were sitting down.

This caused Tony to be taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"Maybe you should think about getting another job." Becca repeated her sentence word for word. When she didn't get a verbal reply but weird glare she continued. "I'm not getting any younger Tony. Shouldn't we start thinking about a family?"

Becca was full of interesting information and Tony wasn't liking any of it. "NCIS *IS* family." He pointed out. "I would not be full if I didn't have NCIS or YOU."

"It just seems like NCIS gets everything while I sit on the backburner." Becca replied, showing how she really felt which was a bit different because normally she was more cryptic."

They both dropped the topic for a second when they placed their order. Once they were done they got right back into it.

"You knew what my job was like when you married me." Tony pointed out. "AND you can't tell me you haven't held any late night meetings and things with your clients." Becca was a powerhouse attorney. It was on a case that the met each other six years ago.

Becca sighed, "I want a family, my job can wait."

"Seriously?"

She nodded and Tony sighed. "I will figure something out with work, but don't get your hopes up."

Tony drank down his third Monster Energy Drink and looked at his computer with cross eyes. "This is getting ridiculous."

"I agree." Bishop said actually making a point by closing up her laptop. "I don't know about you three but I am going home."

Gibbs looked at the clock and noticed it was after 2am. "Yeah we should all go home." He admitted to his team. "And nobody come back until at least 9am tomorrow, you all need sleep."

All three of his team members nodded their heads and grabbed their stuff to head home.

On the way to his car he was shocked to find somebody leaning against it. Since he couldn't tell who it was he pulled his gun and walked slowly to the vehicle. When he got closer though he found himself putting away is gun and walking faster to the car. "What are you doing here at this time of night?"

Becca shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't sleep…I missed you."

"How long have you been waiting out here?"

"Only a few hours."

"What the hell, Becca? You somehow got down here and then spent a few HOURS waiting for me to get out of work? What if we pulled an all-nighter and I stayed through the morning. What would you have done then?"

Becca sighed, "I don't know…I just missed you so much Pooky"

Tony made a slight face at the weird term of endearment. "You are acting nuttier then a fruit cake the past few days, what is going on?"

"Nothing is going on. I just want to see my husband for more than two minutes every day!" She exclaimed.

"Well sneaking into your husband's place of employment is NOT a way to get brownie points. At least not with this husband." Tony yelled causing the parking garage to echo.

"Fuck you!" Becca yelled back and before Tony knew what happened he wat struck over the head with a blunt object and he was down on the ground.

TO BE CONTINUED


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Gibbs walked into the parking garage and automatically knew something was wrong. "Hello?" he called in to the seemingly empty space. When he didn't get a response he got worried. Hadn't Tony been heading in this direction only a few minutes earlier? With that thought in mind he headed towards Tony's parking spot and what he found caused him to almost throw up. There was Tony on the ground blood gushing from a blunt force trauma to his head. Gibbs was surprised that he could hear Tony moaning and bent down to check on his second in command and best friend.

"Tony…"

Tony opened his eyes painfully, "Hi Boss."

Gibbs let out a sigh of relief. "Just hold on, I'll call 911."

"O…okay." Tony whispered, closing his eyes again.

Gibbs got an ambulance on the way and then spent the time talking to Tony to keep him conscience. "Who did this to you?" he questioned, mostly to keep the younger man talking.

Tony knew EXACTLY who did it but shrugged his shoulders in response.

Gibbs found this hard to believe but didn't pry. For some reason he felt like questioning him would only make things worse.

"H…how bad…is…it." Tony managed to ask as he felt himself trying to slip out of consciousness.

"You're going to be fine." Gibbs said and when he did he realized Tony had passed out in his arms.

Tony blinked his eyes open and groaned at how bright the lights were in the room. "Lights…off." He said to the person he sensed in the room with him. After a few seconds he could tell the lights were turned down so he tried opening his eyes again. This time he was able to keep them open and he looked around the room. He could tell he was in your basic hospital room and recognized the person standing by the door to be Gibbs. "What…time is it?"

"Around 5:30." Gibbs replied as he walked away from the light switch and over to his spot next to Tony's bed. "You gave us quite a scare."

"Us?" Tony questioned looking around the room and then spotted what looked like Becca's coat. He tried to keep his breathing normal and not panic. There was NO way anybody could ever find out that she was the one that had hurt him…no way at all.

Just then the door opened and Becca walked into the room. She was confused at the lighting difference at first but then when she saw that her husband was awake she smiled big. "You're awake." She said going over and placing a kiss gently to his forehead.

"Yeah." Tony replied and leaned back into his pillow, trying to keep his distance from the psychopath in front of him without being obvious.

Becca got the hint and glared at Tony for a second. A glare that said 'Don't you DARE'.

Gibbs smiled, "Well I will leave you two alone and go call the rest of the team to tell them what is going on."

"Maybe you should call in the doctor?" Tony said which confused Gibbs. "I mean shouldn't they know I'm awake or something?"

"Um, right." Gibbs said. "I will go talk to your nurse." He said before leaving the room.

Both Tony and Becca were quiet for a few seconds before he spoke up. "I thought you would be long gone. It's obvious you want nothing to do with me."

"Tony, baby I don't know what you're talking about." Becca said as she tried to take his hand in hers but he pulled it away. "Tony…"

"You act like you don't know what happened." Tony spat, glaring at her even though the glaring process hurt his head.

Becca continued to look confused. "I don't understand…you were found at NCIS. Gibbs thinks it has something to do with your current case." She sighed. "I've always hated the fact that you could get hurt so easily out in the field, but I didn't realize it would be so easy to get hurt on NCIS soil."

Tony couldn't believe what he was hearing, did she really think he was that stupid. "Shut up." He said which caused her to raise her eyebrows in shock.

"What?"

"I said to shut…up."

"Tony what is wrong with you…you are acting weird." Becca backed up from the bed in fear.

Just then the door opened and Tony's doctor and nurse came walking into the room with Gibbs holding up the rear.

"Hello Tony my name is Doctor Shmeegle and this is Harold." The young male doctor said as he pulled out a light pen and started shining it in Tony's eyes. "You've got yourself a pretty awful bash on the head which led to…"

"A concussion." Tony said already understanding the drill. He had dealt with head injuries over the years. "When can I go home?"

Doctor Shmeegle smiled, "Well since you seem pretty alert I would say tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

The doctor nodded, "Yeah we still need to watch you for at least 24 hours and make sure you'll have somebody to watch you when you get home. Which I am sure your wife will be able to do."

"Actually I am scheduled to leave town…" Becca spoke up and this was confusing to Tony. When had Becca decided to leave town? Not that he really minded.

Becca saw Tony's confused expression. "My friend Kristie just had a baby, I am going to go to Ohio for a week to be with her."

"Oh." Tony said and couldn't help but feel himself relax a bit more knowing he didn't need to go home with a psychopath and make up a reason not to.

"He can come home with me." Gibbs said with a shrug. "That is unless you want to go home with one of your other teammates.

Tony smiled a little, "Your place is fine Boss."

"Well it's settled then. You can go home tomorrow evening as long as your boss here is ready to take you on." Doctor Shmeegle said still all smiles.

Harold the nurse typed all this into the computer and then walked out of the room with the doctor.

Around dinner time that evening Tony finally convinced the doctor that he was ready to go home, especially with Gibbs looking after him for the next few days.

"So we'll go to your place and pick up some stuff." Gibbs said as he and Tony climbed in his car and they backed out of the parking space.

"Thanks," Tony said looking at his boss and friend with a smile. "You sure you are okay with me staying for a few days?"

Gibbs nodded his head, "Completely."

Tony smirked playfully, "I won't be cramping your style?"

"Tony I haven't had a 'style' to cramp in a while, you know that." Gibbs said as he drove towards Tony and Becca's apartment. "Not since Brian."

Tony's smirk to turned to a look of disgust nobody on the team had been very fond of Gibbs' last boyfriend Brian Holland.

"Oh don't look like that, he wasn't that bad." Gibbs said rolling his eyes. "He just didn't understand what it meant to have a boyfriend who worked for the Federal Government."

'I know how that goes.' Tony thought to himself and was quiet the rest of the way to his apartment. When they got there he tried to get Gibbs to stay outside but he insisted on helping.

"I'm not going to fall down or something." Tony told Gibbs.

"You very easily could." Gibbs huffed as he got out of the car and followed Tony into the building and onto the elevator.

Tony leaned against the back of the elevator with his arms crossed over his chest. "I still say I could do it myself."

Gibbs sighed, "Less than 24 hours ago you were lying on the floor of the NCIS parking garage. You have a rather awful concussion to the point that you are coming to stay at my house for a few days. Now come on let's get your stuff." He said as the elevator stopped and they went to Tony's apartment.

While Tony grabbed a rolling suitcase full of items, Gibbs took the time to look over the apartment. He hadn't spent much time there since the couple had got married and that had been years ago now. In his 'snooping' Gibbs noticed something and laughed. "You still have a goldfish?"

"Of course I do," Tony said from the bedroom. "That's Bob."

"Bob the fish."

"Why not…it's as good of a name as any." Tony said as he rolled his items out into the living room and looked at Bob. "I guess I have to bring him too."

"Guess so."

While Gibbs held Bob, Tony rolled his now full suitcase out the door and back down to Gibbs' car. It was only a matter of twenty minutes or so before they were pulling into Gibbs' driveway.

"Thanks again for doing this Boss." Tony said as they carried his things into the house.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, "Stop thanking me, this is what friends do." He eyed Tony who looked about ready to fall over. "Why don't you take a seat in the living room and I'll get us some ice waters." He was going to say beers but realized beer and pain killers would not mix.

Tony nodded and flopped onto the old threadbare couch. Gibbs' house was much different than his own. His house was full of brand-new furniture (well within the last few years) and most of it was contemporary in style. Gibbs' house was full of furniture that was decades old. The only things that were new in the living room that Tony could tell was the new TV set he had bought the older man a few months back and the laptop computer that sat closed on the coffee table. It looked like it was collecting dust so it was rarely used but at least he didn't have some archaic contraption anymore.

"Here go." Gibbs said handed Tony a cup of ice water before sitting down in a chair across from his SFA and friend. "So care to tell me what happened?"

When Tony looked confused Gibbs shook his head in disbelief. "I know it was HER."

"Her?"

"Rebecca."


	4. Chapter 4

Tony tried to mask the shock that he was feeling. How did Gibbs know what happened? How would he even guess that Rebecca could have been the one to almost do him in? He sat up a bit straighter and squared his shoulders as if ready for a fight. "I don't know what you are talking about." He stated simply yet firmly.

Gibbs also sat up straighter and looked at his SFA suspiciously. "Tony…"

"Don't…" Tony said shaking his head even though it hurt like a mother fucker to just move it in the slightest. "I don't know what happened or who did this to me, so drop it. The more you talk about it the more I am likely to get PTSD or some shit."

"Actually talking prevents PTSD." Gibbs argued.

Tony rolled his eyes, "Whatever…now I am going to take a nap." He said turning around on the couch so he could lie down.

"You can always use the guest room."

"M'fine."

Gibbs sighed, "I will be downstairs." He said as he got up and headed through the kitchen to the basement. Once in the basement he didn't automatically go to his boat making supplies but sat down on one of the stools at the workbench and put his head in his hands. He KNEW what happened to Tony. He had seen it on video footage earlier that day…video footage that he now had stored in the closet of his bedroom where nobody else could see it unless it was needed for evidence someday. If Tony wasn't going to tell the truth of what happened yet then that was okay but as for now he would also keep things quiet. Sighing he turned and started working on his latest project until Tony woke up and they could get something to eat maybe.

Half an hour later there was a knock on the front door that woke Tony from his nap. He looked around to get his bearings for a second before remembering he was at Gibbs' house and that Gibbs was downstairs and probably couldn't hear the door. Groaning he got up off the couch and went to the door. He was semi shocked to see who was at the door when he looked through the peek hole. Smiling a little he opened the door. "Tobias." He said as a greeting.

FBI Agent Tobias Fornell walked into the house and looked around. "Where's Gibbs?" he questioned when he didn't see the other man.

"Downstairs…I was napping." Tony admitted as he glanced at the couch. "You're probably welcome to go down and see him…or I can go get him."

Tobias shook his head to the last part. "I will go to him…you rest." It was obvious he had heard about what had happened to Tony, which makes sense he was probably the closest thing Gibbs had to a best friend.

"Okay," Tony said with a shrug as he went back to the couch and sat down. He wasn't going to admit to anybody but standing up gave him a headache, made him dizzy and nauseous.

With a last look at Tony as if to make sure he was okay, Tobias headed down to the basement.

"Tony you shouldn't be coming down here." Gibbs said assuming the person coming down the stairs was his SFA.

"Not DiNozzo." Tobias said as he took the last step and stepped into the room. "He's upstairs looking more pail than a sheet."

Gibbs sighed, "I knew he wasn't ready to leave the hospital."

Tobias laughed, "You can't keep DiNozzo in the hospital."

"Agreed." Gibbs said and then looked up from his project to really see his friend. "Can I ask what brings YOU here?"

"I thought I could help out." Tobias shrugged.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "You want to help me nurse Tony back to health or help with the boat?" Those were both things that Tobias normally didn't do so why was he suggesting them now?

Tobias shook his head in the negative and laughed, "I think you've got both those things under control. I meant help you catch the bastard that did this to him. I can get a team on it since I know you guys technically aren't supposed to take cases this close to home."

"I think Vance is going to let us." Gibbs said mostly to try and steer his friend from finding out what REALLY happened before Tony was able to deal with it. Right now the younger man was in complete denial over the fact that he had a psychopath for a wife and Gibbs was going to let him be that way for the time being. 'But what if he gets hurt again?' he thought to himself but quickly shook that off.

Tobias wasn't so sure of Gibbs' response. "You're hiding something." He said looking at him through squinted eyes. "Tell me what is going on or I will figure out another way to find out."

Should he tell him? He knew Tobias could keep a secret if he was asked but this was about somebody else, not him. Biting his lower lip he glanced towards the stairs and then back at his friend again. "I do know something."

"Something about what happened to DiNozzo?"

"Maybe…"

Tobias threw his hands up in the air. "Dammit Gibbs I cannot help keep you and your team safe if you don't tell me things."

"Who said you had to keep us safe?" Gibbs spat all of a sudden angry but not at Tobias but mostly at the situation.

"I said." Tobias replied simply.

Gibbs again looked at the stairs to make sure nobody was there listening and sighed. "I know who hurt him."

This shocked Tobias a little, "You actually know for sure?"

"Yes."

"Then why don't you fucking do something?" Tobias exclaimed. "The person could be in jail right now awaiting trial for a major offense."

"It's not that easy." Gibbs replied. "It wouldn't be for Tony anyway."

Tobias sighed, "Jethro, I know you have feelings for him…and want him safe but he's not safe if you're keeping secrets." He then thought of something. "Does TONY know who did it?"

Gibbs nodded, "He was talking to the person from what I could tell on camera."

"So you saw the video feed that nobody seems to know what happened to."

"Yes."

Sighing again Tobias sat down at the workbench and watched Gibbs for a second. "So who did it?"

Gibbs wasn't sure if he should say anything but knew he needed to. He needed somebody to talk with in since Tony wasn't talking about it. Tobias was right he had feelings for Tony and more than just a friend or co-worker. He had, had these feelings for a good few years now even when he had been dating his previous boyfriends. They and simply been a substitute for who he really wanted to be with.

"Gibbs…"

"Rebecca." Gibbs said softly, not looking at his friend as he said this.

This shocked Tobias and it showed, "His wife Rebecca?"

Gibbs nodded his head slowly, "Yeah…the woman is a complete psychopathic basket case."

Tobias actually laughed a little at this mostly because Gibbs' wording had been rather humorous.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, not sure what was so funny. "Something is funny about that?"

Tobias was about to say something when there was noise on the steps and Tony appeared walking down them.

Looking up Gibbs sighed, "Tony you shouldn't be navigating stairs." He told his SFA and good friend as he watched him gingerly walk down the steps. It was obvious his head was really hurting.

"I was getting bored." Tony said as he finally got down the stairs and went to sit next to next to Tobias at the work bench. "Somebody disturbed my nap." He glared playfully at Tobias.

Tobias held his hands up in defense. "How was I to know you would be the one to answer the door?"

"Touché"

"Well BOTH of you are invading MY space." Gibbs said nodding around at the basement and all his woodworking materials. "So what do you guys want?" Of course he knew what Tobias wanted, but that would have to wait. Now Tony on the other hand he wasn't sure what brought the other man downstairs. Wait that's right…boredom. Well, how did you keep an injured DiNozzo entertained? "Let's go back upstairs so Tony can lie back down." He said beginning to put some of his things away.

"I don't need to, I'm fine." Tony answered stubbornly. "Plus you were busy doing something, I don't want you to stop just to babysit me."

"It's fine, Tony." Gibbs said

Tobias took this as his cue to leave and also headed for the stairs. "I should get home, the kid is probably wanting dinner. But Gibbs if you need to talk about what we talked about call me."

Gibbs nodded, "Sure thing Fornell."

With Fornell gone up the stairs, Tony seemed relieved, there was something about having that man around that always made him nervous.

"Come on." Gibbs reached for Tony's hand and pulled him off the stool. "Let's go watch a movie."


End file.
